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Cats to face another familiar foe in Bama

Martin faces buddy Anthony Grant on Saturday in KC

Alabama's Trevor Releford (12), the younger brother of Kansas' Travis Releford, will return to his home town of Kansas City on Saturday night when the Crimson Tide plays Kansas State in the Sprint Center.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For Kansas State, the past two weeks have been like staring at your own reflection.

The Wildcats already got a good look in the mirror when they played West Virginia, a game that pitted Frank Martin against former boss Bob Huggins.

Saturday, Martin will greet another old acquaintance when K-State faces Alabama at the Sprint Center. The Crimson Tide are coached by Anthony Grant, Martin’s high school classmate and a lifelong friend from Miami.

“He was someone I always looked up to,” Martin said.

Martin, Huggins and Grant ascribe to similar theories on the subject of defense. All three coaches demand it, and all three teams can bump and grind with the best.

That means the Wildcats could be in for another game like the one they played against the Mountaineers in Wichita, a two-overtime slugfest that nearly featured more fouls than field goals.

“I see a team that kind of resembles our team, the way they play,” Martin said of the 8-2 Crimson Tide. “They attack you.”

Both K-State and Alabama rank among the top 20 nationally in field-goal percentage defense, with opponents shooting 35.6 percent against the Tide and 36.6 percent against K-State.

Alabama is especially stingy from 3-point range, allowing opponents to hit only 26 percent of their attempts.

“They change defenses a little bit more than us, but every defense they go into is aggressive,” Martin said. “They utilize that athleticism and that length they have to make it real difficult for you to pass the ball around the perimeter, let alone shoot it.

“If you can’t pass it, it’s hard to get good shots.”

Martin and Grant learned together as assistants under Shakey Rodriguez at Miami Senior High. They also played on the same high school team, though there was no debate about who had the better athletic career.

“The last time I tore up my knee, it happened because he passed me the ball, something he never did ever in my life,” Martin said, recalling a rec league game when both coaches lived in Miami.

Martin and Grant have met once before, with K-State beating the Tide 87-74 two years ago in Mobile, Ala. With Grant now in his third season, Martin sees more of his friend’s personality in this team.

“It took a year and change to fight and fight and fight to create the culture they wanted,” Martin said. “That started taking shape at the end of last season, and it continued into the way they’ve started this year.”

Alabama didn’t have a true point guard in Grant’s first season, Martin said, but the Crimson Tide addressed that issue by pulling Trevor Releford out of Kansas City.

“It’s everybody’s dream in college to play in your hometown in front of your family at this level,” Releford said. “It’s a great opportunity for me and I can’t wait to play.”

Grant isn’t quite as excited.

“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Frank and what he’s been able to accomplish with his program and the way his guys compete,” Grant said. “It’ll be great to see him, but I’m not looking forward to playing his team — not only because he’s my friend, but because he’s got a very good team.”